Christmas Past- Learning from People Who’ve Been There
Christmas is an absolutely magical time of year. It’s a time when most embrace the holiday spirit. The sights, sounds, tastes and smells all delight the senses. Everyone wants their holiday to be merry, bright, and filled with wonder. Sometimes that’s easier said than done and all the good intentions start to feel like a burden. Trying to make everything perfect gets overwhelming and stressful. That’s when it’s great to talk to someone who’s been around the Christmas block a time or two.
If you talk to people who’ve raised families into adulthood, you might learn that you don’t need to jam-pack your holidays so full that you start to feel dazed and confused. They’ll likely tell you that a lot of the effort you put into making memorable holidays simply doesn’t matter. That you can do less and have a bigger impact.
Learning from people who’ve lived some life can help you avoid stress and headaches during Christmas…and the rest of the year. Asking some powerful questions can make all the difference in how you spend your time and resources during the holiday. Take a look-
1.How important is it to buy gifts for Christmas?
It may feel important to have a lot of gifts under the tree so children feel valued, but in the end it doesn’t matter. They usually blow through the gifts and only really care about one or two each year. Over time it means more to kids to have fewer gifts that are more thoughtful for their needs at the time.
2. What do kids remember most?
Kids tend to remember events more than anything. A year you take a vacation instead of staying home. The year you go skiing on Christmas day and have a crockpot dinner. These unusual events really impact their memories in positive ways.
3. What are the top 3 most important things to focus on?
- Quality time. Doing a special activity with each child during the season really means a lot to them.
- Tradition. Having something fun you do each year helps create a lasting memory that they tend to take into adulthood.
- Community. Using the holiday to remind children of the importance of caring for the community as a whole. Buying gifts for the Angel Tree network or volunteering somehow as a family.
It can feel overwhelming trying to be, do, and have everything there is to make Christmas special. It needn’t be too complicated. Ask those older than you for their perspective and advice on how you can streamline and bring out the best of the holidays without feeling burdened.
Crafting a Christmas Mission Statement Helpt Reduce Holiday Stress
The holidays come around every year and each year brings the promise of magic and wonder. Christmas delights entire families and gets them excited for gifts, celebrations, and time off from their regular routine. The excitement generated by Christmas can quickly fade when things start to feel overwhelming. Without proper planning, Christmas time can morph into a stressful time filled with too many activities and not enough resources to meet your expectations. Luckily, there’s a simple way to avoid stress during Christmas time.
You may have heard about mission statements and how they help organizations and businesses laser focus on their overall goals for their business. It’s directly connects to the why of why they are in business. A mission statement helps businesses, and those who run them, weigh their decisions, and make the best choices possible that align with their mission.
In the same way, that mission statements serve business, they can serve families. When it comes to Christmas, having a mission statement can help families make decisions that support their mission and reduce stress spending time on things that don’t suit their mission.
A sample mission statement for Christmas could be- To focus on family and friends making memories that last. Another could be- To use the season as an opportunity to serve others.
Taking the time to define what matters most helps remove any doubt about where to put your emphasis and where to set healthy boundaries. If your family mission is to serve others, it makes sense to set aside resources to donate or volunteer during the holidays while giving up other activities. If your mission is to focus on family and friends, it makes sense that you would plan activities that are family-oriented.
Try these tips for creating your Christmas mission statement
4.Tip-
Involve the whole family. Make creating your mission statement a family affair. Involve everyone in determining what matters most to them and crafting a mission statement that reflects the goals for the season. It might be something unique like- to experience Christmas as a family on a vacation.
5. Tip-
Write out your mission statement and post it. Make sure your mission statement is front and center to remind your whole family what they have agreed is their focus for the holiday.
6.Tip-
Weigh your choices against one another. When you are faced with decisions about what to do with your spending, time, and obligations, weigh them against your mission. If the opportunity doesn’t support the mission, it’s an easy no.
One of the easiest ways to reduce stress during Christmas time is to agree ahead of time what your focus is going to be. Creating a mission statement can help your family identify their primary focus for the season and avoid unnecessary stress.
Do the holidays have you stressed and worried in 2020 the year of Covid? Schedule a 30-minute empty nester breakthrough to get your holiday spirit back.
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